Telefónica Digital has developed Smart M2M, an online platform for the management of machine-to-machine traffic that will be marketed to international as well as in-country customers. Smart M2M is already up and running in Spain and Brazil, with Chile, Argentina and Czech Republic next in line for launch. M2M is one of a number of emerging market opportunities being targeted by Telefónica Digital, which believes it can generate annual revenues of up to €800 million ($983 million) from the M2M market by 2015. (See Telefónica: Digital Dreamer? and Telefónica Bangs Its Digital Drum.)

European telcos should be turning their attention to the healthcare industry as the cloud opens up fresh possibilities in the sector, according to a new report from Pyramid Research. "Telcos are well-positioned to capitalize on the growing demand for healthcare cloud services because they can offer the most comprehensive solutions, complementing cloud services with other ICT products such as medical monitoring or mobile health applications," says Pyramid's Dr. Ewa Romaniuk-Calkowska.

Service Provider Information Technology (SPIT) giant Comverse is cutting about 120 staff (about 3 percent of its headcount), including about 30 positions in Israel, according to this Globes report.

Starting in February, Telefónica Deutschland GmbH's mobile customers will be able to transfer money to each other using their smartphones and make purchases using a smartphone digital wallet. For more, read this blog.

The U.K. has a new MVNO in the shape of Phones 4u Ltd., one of the country's major phone retailers with 680 stores at the last count. It has tapped into the 3G network of Everything Everywhere Ltd. (EE) for the launch of its Life Mobile service, which is set to launch in March. It also plans to roll out 4G services later in the year.
— Paul Rainford, Assistant Editor, Europe, Light Reading

The 'gleaming city on a hill,' Steve Saunders calls it. But who is going to take us from today's NFV componentry to the grand future of a self-driving network? Here's a look at the vendors hoping to make it happen.

Understanding the full experience of women in technology requires starting at the collegiate level (or sooner) and studying the technologies women are involved with, company cultures they're part of and personal experiences of individuals.

During this WiC radio show, we will talk with Nicole Engelbert, the director of Research & Analysis for Ovum Technology and a 23-year telecom industry veteran, about her experiences and perspectives on women in tech. Engelbert covers infrastructure, applications and industries for Ovum, but she is also involved in the research firm's higher education team and has helped colleges and universities globally leverage technology as a strategy for improving recruitment, retention and graduation performance.

She will share her unique insight into the collegiate level, where women pursuing engineering and STEM-related degrees is dwindling. Engelbert will also reveal new, original Ovum research on the topics of artificial intelligence, the Internet of Things, security and augmented reality, as well as discuss what each of those technologies might mean for women in our field. As always, we'll also leave plenty of time to answer all your questions live on the air and chat board.